The Democratic National Committee on Friday released new guidelines for its debate scheduled for March 15th. The new threshold requires each candidate to have at least 20 percent of the delegates that have been awarded thus far. The move singles out Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), who received just two delegates up until now.
Gabbard took to Twitter to urge her opponents, former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT), to oppose the DNC's sudden requirement changes.
.@JoeBiden @BernieSanders I’m sure you would agree that our Democratic nominee should be a person who will stand up for what is right. So I ask that you have the courage to do that now in the face of the DNC's effort to keep me from participating in the debates. #LetTulsiDebate
— Tulsi Gabbard ?? (@TulsiGabbard) March 7, 2020
To keep me off the stage, the DNC again arbitrarily changed the debate qualifications. Previously they changed the qualifications in the OPPOSITE direction so Bloomberg could debate. I ask that you stand w/ me against the DNC’s transparent effort to exclude me from the debates.
— Tulsi Gabbard ?? (@TulsiGabbard) March 7, 2020
This isn't the first time Gabbard has been excluded from the debates. She hasn't been on the stage since November, due to polling and donor threshold requirements.
The DNC came under fire for changing the threshold for their debates in March, effectively removing the donor requirement. The change paved way for former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to take part in the debate despite the fact that he was funding his own campaign.
The next debate is scheduled for Sunday, March 15th at 8 p.m. EST in Phoenix, Arizona. It will be hosted by CNN and Univision in partnership with CHC BOLD, the political arm of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, POLITICO reported.
